


Old Grudges

by Captain_Revo



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Enterprise, Gen, Kelvin Timeline, Minor Character Death, Post-Star Trek Beyond, Xindi Arc (Star Trek)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-11 14:41:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20155267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_Revo/pseuds/Captain_Revo
Summary: A landing party from the Enterprise A encounters an old adversary with a score to settle.





	Old Grudges

The force of the landing thrusters disturbed the dusty, arid land below, sending particles of dirt and gravel scattering in all directions. They had been forced to use the shuttlecraft as the newly constructed _Enterprise-A_ could not traverse the magnetic storms of the star system without taking massive damage, and the Captain was not keen to lose another ship. Only a shuttle was nimble and small enough to avoid attracting the dangerous energy burst the storms emitted.

The shuttlecraft _Galileo_ touched down before the hatch opened and a group of five stepped out, wearing brightly coloured tops contrasting against the dull brown landscape. The landing party consisted of Captain James T. Kirk, Doctor Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Science Officer Carol Marcus, Cadet Jaylah, (who was on temporary training assignment from the academy), and Chief of Security Commander Nhan. They all gathered their bearings and looked around while waving the dust from their faces. The ground was dry and cracked and it had not appeared to have rained for months. A few bits of dead vegetation, and the occasional leafless tree dotted their surroundings. The sky was orange and it was not dissimilar to that of a traditional Vulcan day before its fateful destruction.

"Oh, _wow_, Spock would love it here," said Doctor McCoy, as the intensity of the sunlight hit him.

"We can swap places if he wants," replied Carole Marcus.

"Not a fan of the heat, Doctor Marcus?" asked Kirk.

"Heat is fine. One hundred and twenty degrees, not so much," she replied, already wiping a bead of sweat from her head. "The distress signal is coming from that town ahead."

"Okay, let's head into... town," ordered the Captain, pointing in the direction of a few sparsely positioned buildings in what was essentially a massive wasteland of nothing. The town was a few hundreds metres to the west of their location and looked in a sorry state of disrepair.

Bones looked at their destination then back at his friend. "Jim, a town has people, buildings, maybe even electricity. This is two sheds and a well."

Kirk could do little but nod in agreement. They had received a distress signal asking for help while on the edge of the system after a recent diplomatic meeting with a Gorn ambassador. They had expected to find a technologically advanced people, one able to contact starships in deep space, but there had been no signs of any technology on the planet. There had been no signs of much of anything on this part of the continent, although their sensors were severely diminished by the magnetic storm. It seemed they had not even entered the industrial age, and was more akin to the Wild West of Earth's past.

"Maybe they live underground?" suggested Jaylah.

"Perhaps," he replied. He turned to his security chief and softly said "Keep your eyes open, Commander Nhan." 

Like much of the officers severing under Kirk, Nhan had originally been part of Christoper Pike's crew, and had quickly shown an aptitude in tactics and security under his leadership. After the destruction of the _Enterprise_, Captain Lorca of the _USS Buran_ had tried to lure her away while the new flagship was being constructed at Starbase _Yorktown_, but Kirk made a personal plea for her to remain aboard, promoted her to Commander, and made her his chief of security. She had proven her worth on more than one occasion in her new role over the last six months. The Barzan woman placed her hand on her phaser, took a deep breath from her breathing apprentice attached to either side of her mouth, and turned to her superior. "Will do Captain, something definitely ain't right here."

They walked across the field towards the largest of the structures. It appeared to be a little more than a barn. They stepped over a broken fence to reach it that had probably been designed to keep in some type of cattle. One of the doors was nearly falling off its hinges, and the paint was faded to almost the wood. Some alien form of tumbleweed rolled past them.

Jaylah kept swatting insects away from her face. "I do not like this James T."

"I agree, and you really should call me Captain," he whispered. 

"I do not like this, Captain James T," she said correcting herself.

McCoy smirked while Kirk scratched at the side of his ear lobe. "We'll work on that."

"I am not reading any life inside," advised Marcus, "although there is some form of energy pattern that the tricorder can not determine." 

Nhan took the lead and with her phaser drawn, and edged towards the opening. She quickly checked both blind spots of the door before entering the room. "Clear," she shouted back to them. The rest of the party entered the deteriorating structure. The barn itself was unremarkable, dried hay, some farming implements, a bucket of water covered in green slime, but in the centre was a console, clearly several hundred years more advanced. Some sort of alien language danced across the display panel.

"Great. It's going to be one of those missions," cried Bones, "Everything looks fine and boring, and then, _wham_, alien shenanigans." 

"Easy Bones, we are just getting started," said Kirk, trying to calm his friend.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "That's what I'm afraid of." 

"Can anyone tell me what it is?" asked the Captain.

Both McCoy and Marcus scanned it with their respective tricorders. The console began to beep. The alien writing changed and turned red.

"I'm reading an an energy build up. Some sort of plasma based reaction." replied his science officer quickly.

"Okay, let's back awa-," The captain was unable to finish his sentence as a wave of energy exploded out and washed over them. Everything went black. Kirk dreamed of being chased by giant reptilians across the Vulcan Forge. Powerful blasts of electricity rained down on him as he dodged the creatures, only to eventually run right into the mouth of one. Inside the creature's mouth was the barn. His crew lay at his feet, all dead. A Gorn stood behind him laughing. Everything went black. 

Kirk opened his eyes slowly. His head pounded and his body ached. The heat made him feel sick. Jaylah was already awake, but the others were unconscious. Her hands were bound behind her back and she was trying to free herself when she saw the captain looking at her. He realised that he too was tied up tightly. 

"Captain James T. Can you hear me?" 

"Oh, shit, my head," he replied, weakly. "What happened?"

"The console. It attacked us. Knocked us out," she said still wriggling.

"Oh lord," came the murmur of a southern accent. "Have I been drinking Saurian Brandy again?"

"Bones."

"Jim."

"You okay?"

"Just peachy."

"Can you free your hands? Feet?" 

"Damn it Jim, I'm a Doctor not a contortionist. Houdini couldn't get out of these." he said in his usual acerbic tone. 

"Who... Deene?" asked Jaylah.

"What?... Never mind." replied McCoy realising her misunderstanding of the escape artists name.

Nhan and Carole Marcus also regained consciousness, each groaning at the pulsating pain in their heads. They all took a few moments to gather their thoughts and take stock of their situation.

"I'm sorry captain, I should have been more alert," said Nhan apologetically. 

"It wasn't your fault, Commander. We are all big enough to take care of ourselves, and no one could have seen that coming."

"I mean, I did," said McCoy. Kirk ignored him.

"Captain," said Marcus, "Just before that console stunned us, I managed to get a look at the writing. I recognised it. It was Xindi."

"The Xindi!" he said shocked. Starfleet had had virtually no contact with them in nearly a century. The terrible attack on Earth that killed 7 million people and forced Starfleet to send the crew of the NX class Enterprise deep in a region known as the Expanse had nearly ended with the destruction of Earth, but when outside forces were exposed as having manipulated the Council of the five species, a peace was agreed. Other than an occasional scout ship or lost freighter, they two sides had avoided each other ever since through either shame or resentment.

"What could the Xindi want with us?" asked Nhan.

"Captain, I don't think you're going to have to wait long to find out," replied the science officer, as five heavily armed Xindi reptilians walked in.

From what Kirk could remember from stories the reptilians were the most aggressive and untrustworthy of the five. Even when the truth came to light that the Sphere Builders had manipulated them in an attempt to reconfigure space to be suitable for their race to live in at the expanse of all others, a group of reptilians had tried to complete the attack on Earth.

"I'm Captain James T. Kirk of the _USS Enterprise_. Why have you taken us prisoner," he said with as much authority as he could muster from his restricted position.

The lead Xindi, who was not very tall, but broad in the shoulders, his skin white with dark spots, took his weapon and struck it across Kirk's face, causing the side of his head to cut open. "My name is Commander Skorll. You are my prisoners and to be tried for your crimes, and then executed upon your guilty judgement."

"What crimes?" demand Nhan.

The xindi looked on in disgust, his thick wiry hairs on his head twitching, "Do you not know their history little girl? A century ago, the people of the Earth sent the _Enterprise_ to our space, and forced our gods, the Guardians, away from us. We have been alone and directionless ever since. As their descendants, and those who serve with them, you are responsible for their actions and you all shall pay for the original crimes."

"You're kidding, right?" blurted out McCoy, "We aren't the descendants of that crew. We are not their relations. Two of us come from species humanity had not even met back then."

"You bear the name of their ship," he snapped back.

"Yes, but-,"

Skroll drew closer to the doctor and grabbed him by the throat. McCoy grimaced in pain. "Then you also bear the record and conduct of that crew also."

"Release him," shouted Kirk. The huge reptilian turned his head to face Kirk. He snorted before letting McCoy go.

"Pathetic. How did you apes ever leave your own star system?" the malice dripping from his voice.

"You can't hold us responsible for a different ship, a different crew, just because we carry the same name. That's not how it works," argued Kirk.

"It is for us! We assume the responsibility of the actions of the ships that we taken the name of, otherwise why honour their legacy? Besides you are not in a position to argue, human," he said spitting the word from his mouth, "I grew up hearing of the stories of Earth and how you planned to divide and destroy the Xindi people. And then the evil _Enterprise_ crew, and the heretic Captain Archer, came to our space and waged war against our gods. Your people's transgressions against us, and the Guardians is unforgivable. They will return to us once they see you have been captured. That we are worthy again."

"That's... that's not what happened," said Marcus, "You're people were manipulated by the Sphere Builders, what you call the Guardians. They were your enemy, not us. We only entered-,"

"Your lies have no weight here, mammalian scum. You will be transported to our ship. Our vortex drive allows us to enter and leave this system at will. Your ship and crew will have no idea you are gone until it is too late," he said in a mocking, gloating tone.

The pain in Kirk's head was starting to clear, "You did all this just to capture us, after a century of peace, do your people really want war?"

The massive reptile clenched its fist, "My people are perfectly content to open negotiations with the Federation, many even wish to join, especially the primates and arboreals. My fellow acolytes and I are the only ones that will stand up to your evil. I would have liked your entire ship, but I'll settle for you and your command staff. That Gorn diplomat you entertained aboard your ship was willing to sell me the tactical information that your ship can not travel in this system. As the only Federation ship in this sector it was little trouble to hook up a transponder signal that you would be obliged to investigate."

"That green skinned bastard," said McCoy angrily.

"The Gorn," he said, reverence sweeping over him, "Now there is a real species. Strong and powerful, not like you pathetic mammals. They know our worth. They used to dominate this region of space. A Gorn/Xindi alliance with reptilians in charge will usher in a new dominion of the cold blooded. I leave you to contemplate your crimes," he said turning to leave.

"This isn't over," shouted Kirk.

"True," he said leaving, "your trial awaits."

His men followed him out the barn. Two of them stayed outside the door to stand guard. The other three moved out of view.

"Great, we got a real religious zealot on our hands," said McCoy.

Kirk could see Jaylah began wriggling her arms again. She dislocated her thumb out of its socket. Kirk winced at the thought. She slipped her hand out of the hand restraint and popped it back into place. She untied her legs and then began untying Kirk. While Kirk untied the others she moved towards the guards like a shadow. Her attack on them was stealthy and quick. Both were unconscious before they even knew they were being assaulted. 

"Glad she's on our side." said McCoy under his breath. Kirk knew what she was capable of from their time on Altamid. When she agreed to join the academy he put in an immediate request to have her first field assignment aboard _Enterprise_. It was already paying dividends. Nhan and Jaylah each grabbed one of the guard's weapons. Their own phasers were no where to be seen. They could see the remaining three in the distance between them and their shuttlecraft, but there was no cover between them. A huge sandstorm was blowing in at speed from an adjacent angle. 

"Keep low and approach quickly. We need to take them by surprise. We can use the sandstorm to our advantage." Kirk said, waiting for it to draw closer before he gave the signal to approach.

The team crept closer to them, but one of the Xindi spotted them by chance. A barrage of energy fire came at them. The team scattered. Jaylah and Nhan returned fire. One of the xindi was struck in the shoulder but remained on his feet. The other dodged his blast by diving to his right. Skorll moved away towards the shuttle for cover from both the energy discharges and the storm. The injured Xindi began firing widely. Nhan rolled to her left to avoid being hit and instinctively let off a shot as she finished her roll into a crouching position. She struck the xindi in the chest forcing him to the ground. He continued to fire even from his prone position.

"This bastard is tough," Nhan cursed. As he began to raise up, she fired several more blasts that struck him in the chest and face. He dropped dead, finally defeated.

Jaylah sprinted towards her target as he moved towards the wall of sand. Kirk saw flashes of green energy in the storms backdrop before they disappeared.

"Go help Jaylah, I'll go after Skorll," he ordered. Nhan barely had time to protest his unarmed reckless pursuit of the commander but he was already sprinting towards him. 

As Kirk approached the shuttlecraft the wind was making it almost impossible to see more than a few feet in front of him. His eyes stung and his lungs felt like they were filled with sand. He gingerly moved towards _Galileo, _his right hand covering his face_._ A huge reptile launched from inside the craft towards. Kirk forced his other hand up to protect his face from the vicious blows. The starfleet captain kicked his attacker between the legs as hard as he could but the huge reptile didn't flinch. '_Shit_. _Guess they don't have those,' _he thought, as more punches flew at him. Kirk managed to back away, spinning round and swooping up a pile of dirt that he threw it into Skorll's face. He then launched at him with a dropkick, forcing the Xindi to the ground. The Xindi rose again and drew two large serrated knives from his belt.

"Forget the trial, I will kill you now." 

The sand storm was now upon them with full force. The particles of fine dust and dirt spiralled around them. Skorll swiped at his target wildly. Kirk dodging and ducking as best he could trying to land body and leg shots. The winds continued to worsen, often momentarily blinding one of them giving the other a small window to attack. The Xindi reptilian seemed more suited to the harsh conditions and was gaining the upper hand. Kirk's uniform was in tatters from near misses with the knives. Blood poured down his arm from one that did not miss.

The storm reached its maximum intensity. Both lost sight of their targets. Kirk's voice sounded in the maelstrom. "We don't have to do this. We don't have to let ancient grudges and feuds continue on forever. We need to find common ground."

"The only ground we share is what we stand upon now, and it will soon be bathed in your blood," he boomed back at him.

"You've allowed yourself to be tricked into believing something that is false," he shouted, spitting sand from his mouth, "We can prove what happened. We have the records from that time, you just have to trust me enough to let me show you I'm telling you the truth."

"Lies," he screamed, lashing out with his knives not knowing where his enemy was. "False records. History is written by the victors and as much as it pains me you won the battle, but I will win the war."

A yellow blast of energy struck him in the back. He stumbled forward a little and turned around. His suit was some form of armour. What should have stun him had little effect. Kirk had used the time and sand cover to get to the shuttlecraft and pick up an emergency phaser.

"Don't make me do this," he pleaded.

The Xindi roared and charged at Kirk with his knives raised above his head. Kirk had no choice but to fire again on the kill setting. The onrushing Xindi crumpled to the ground.

A few moments later his four crew members approached him, coughing at the sand in their mouths.

"Captain," he cried Nhan with joy. "You're okay."

"...Yeah," he said slowly.

"McCoy lowered himself to check on the fallen Xindi. "Jim, he's dead."

Kirk thew the phaser on the floor. Let's get out of here.

Several hours later, back aboard _Enterprise_ with his wounds healed, Kirk sat alone in the conference room going over the encounter, a pensive look on his face. The doors whooshed open and Spock entered.

"Am I disturbing you, Captain?" his question was typically cold and Vulcan like, yet with just a hint of warmth Kirk had learned to detect.

Kirk's eyes darted towards, "Not at all, Mister Spock."

"You seem troubled," he pointed out.

Kirk's finger and thumb toyed with his lower lip, "I couldn't reach him."

Spock pondered his words. "The Xindi Commander?"

"Everything he believed in was a lie, a perversion of the truth. He was prepared to kill for it."

Spock raised an eyebrow, "It is my observation that religious fanatics are often easily swayed into violence. That any attempt to change their worldview only fortifies it further, because their cause is righteous, and any counter evidence is seen as testing their faith. I do not believe he left you a choice."

"The historical records show that the Xindi were grateful to the Guardians, indebted to them, maybe even a little subservient, but there was no indication they worshipped them as gods."

"Most myths have a grain of truth at their core. This cult he and his followers believed in has likely evolved over time." 

"Are there any more of these followers? Where might it evolve too next?"

"No one can be sure, but as you humans say 'time will tell'," replied the Vulcan.

Kirk could have swore he saw a smile on his lips. He rose to his feet and patted his friend on the shoulder. "Yes, it will. It always does."


End file.
